Loneliness, My Friend
by Dante Andy Anderson
Summary: Rachel was always left alone and she was used to it. But it eventually became too much that she decided that this time she'd be the one who would leave everyone else alone.
1. Chapter 1

**LONELINESS, MY FRIEND.**

 **Disclaimer** : I own nothing except this Storyline and plot. Glee (TV Series), Glee Fan Trailers on Youtube, All Music mentioned all belong to their respective labels and what not.

 **Rating** : T

 **Warning** : Scenes of Bullying, Depression, and Language. Do Not Read if you're easily offended.

 **Genre** : Drama, Angst

 **Era** : AU WMHS - Post WMHS

 **Notes** : Three Shot - and yep. I'm still a bit stuck with my other stories but I had this stuck in my head. It's angsty. Just giving a heads up there.  
 _Italics = flashbacks and song lyrics Italics and Underlines = lyric changes  
_Established Faberry

 **Pairings:** Quinn/Rachel

* * *

Loneliness was a friend that Rachel knew she could rely on to always be there and in all honesty it wasn't like she wasn't used to it.

She was used to being lonely, she was used to being ignored, and she was used to being abandoned by everyone she loved; she was used to being pushed aside and having no one who loved her enough to always constantly be there for her. She was used to it so much that when Quinn started pushing her away she figured that it was something that was going to happen eventually anyway. After all, no one ever stuck around her long enough. Not her fathers, not her mother, not her other family members, not her friends from school (when she had them before high school), or former boyfriends, so why would it be any different when her girlfriend; the most popular girl in school; even after she came out; decided to just pull away from her?

Rachel was just used to it and it tore her apart every day. Not that anyone would notice such a thing. After all without Quinn she was just Berry the self absorbed diva who cared for no one else but herself and was such an attention seeker that it was amazing that someone like Quinn Fabray would even consider dating a loser such as herself. When they had first come out, much to Rachel's reluctance because she feared for Quinn's safety, everyone thought that there was going to be an epic prank but over time nothing happened and people just stopped waiting for it and went about their business as usual.  
But now everyone was starting to see that Quinn was pushing Rachel away and so the teasing started to slowly come back because they figured, 'Oh well, it's just Berry,'  
There were even times when Quinn wouldn't even notice that she was laughing along with the rest of crowd at Rachel's expense until she saw the hurt run quickly across her girlfriend's face and then she'd realised what she had done but it was too late to apologise for it as the crowd had dispersed by that stage.

 _"Rachel, I'm so sorry," Quinn had apologised for the nth time, "I shouldn't have laughed, I shouldn't have let them do that to you, I'm so sorry,"_

 _"It's okay Quinn, it was rather funny, I guess," Rachel would say._

 _"Oh, you think?"_

 _And not wanting to enter into any conflict Rachel would just nod her head._

 _"Well, I'm still going to do better next time," Quinn had said but of course the cycle would just continue._

The pushing away had started small, a missed weekend here, a blown off dinner there, until it started to become months apart since Quinn and her had a date night or even just hung out in her lonely home. And now Rachel was alone a lot of the time.

 _"Oh loneliness, you really my friend," Rachel had said over the now cold dinner that she had made for her and Quinn for what would've been their date night but Quinn texted to say she couldn't make it due to circumstances.  
_ _Rachel wiped away a tear as she collected the food that was left and popped it into a container hoping to give it to Quinn later. She never did._

Quinn had even stopped saying she was pretty or that she even loved her. Rachel couldn't remember the last time the blonde had ever said any of those things to her.

 _"I love you Quinn," Rachel would say before she hung up the phone._

 _"I know, same here," Quinn would say back in return but the warmth that had been there in her voice was replaced by an automatic reaction that brought across the feeling of coldness. It was as if Quinn just said it without giving it any ounce of thought._

Rachel sighed as she sat alone in the choir room opting to give Quinn some peace from her mere presence today during their lunch period as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"I just want someone to love me so much that they'll remember I exist," Rachel had whispered at the floor with a small tear running down her face.

Of course she never ever got her answer back as the bell rang and she was left having to leave and walk to her next class alone.

As she walked pass one of the classrooms she heard giggling coming from the inside.

"Berry will flip if she knew about this," Santana was heard saying.

"Well she won't flip if you don't tell her so please just act like you normally do to her and she won't suspect a thing," Quinn said in return, "Now shush, we don't know who could be listening,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

Rachel wasn't sure what she was feeling. Hurt of course was there, but a part of her just couldn't feel connected - a part of her already knew that this was an inevitability, it was an inevitability that Quinn would get bored with her and cheat.  
At least that's what it sounded like.

Rachel sighed as she walked to her locker to gather her books only to be greeted by the one thing she hadn't expected she'd get in a very long time. A slushy.

"Hey loser, you look better now," Karofsky laughed as Rachel just wiped the red slushy away from her face.

She chose not to say anything, not a word. What difference would it make anyway?

She looked into her locker and grabbed out the slushy kit that she had stashed in there, glad that she had followed her gut and left one in there as she went to the bathroom to get cleaned.

As she was about to finish the door to the bathroom swung open and Rachel saw a glimmer of blonde hair.

"Rachel," Brittany said as she looked at the brunette, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Rachel answered as she slowly packed her kit away, "Lucky I had my spare stuff huh?"

"Rachel, this isn't okay,"

"I know, but this was a inevitability,"

"Huh?"

"It means that I expected this to happen eventually,"

"It's because Quinn's pulling away isn't it?"

Rachel paused as she slowly looked at Brittany.

"I'm not that stupid, I can see her pulling away and it's making you sad all the time, why don't you tell her?"

"I tried, but she didn't listen to me, I think she was texting someone,"

"Rachel, you need to try again, she has to stop doing this to you,"

"There's no point Brittany,"

"Of course there is, Quinn's not going to know that this is hurting you unless you tell her and make her listen this time,"

"Brittany..."

"Look, for someone who's incredibly smart Quinn can be incredibly stupid, you need to talk to her,"

"I'll think about it Brittany,"

"Rachel you can't continue trying to be strong forever,"

"Whoever said I was strong in the first place?" Rachel asked rhetorically as she walked away.

\- page break -

And so the day wore on. Quinn didn't mention anything about where she was at lunch nor did she talk to Rachel about being slushied. There were only two options that Rachel ran through her head. Either Quinn didn't know about her being slushied, or she knew and she didn't care.

It didn't matter either way.

"Hello everyone, let's get started shall we?" Mr Schuester said as he walked into the room and clapped his hands. Everyone went and took their seats. Quinn decided to sit next to Santana today as Brittany frowned at her, not that either the Latina or the other blonde noticed that, "So, Nationals is not too far away and we need to make sure we're ready for them this time,"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with that.

"Right, so, this year the solo is going to..." he started but was cut off.

"Hold up Schue," Santana said as everyone looked at her, "If you're going to say that it's going to Berry then please, save us the trouble,"

"Hey, Rachel's a great singer," Finn said.

"So?"

"Look Santana we talked about this, Rachel is a fantastic singer and she's the one who'll lead us to victory," Quinn said, "So if you could please quit being a jealous bitch to my girlfriend,"

"If she's your wonderful girlfriend then why the hell are you sitting next to me and not her?"

"Because you were whining about me not spending time with you,"

"Pssh, please, you're probably avoiding her because she's a pest,"

"Santana, stop it, ONE, she's my girlfriend, stop insulting her because you're jealous, TWO, I've been hanging out with you for the last few weekends, you can't complain now,"

In all that time Rachel just looked between the two but didn't say anything. At least she now knew who Quinn was blowing her off for.

"Guys, please, can we just continue with the lesson," Rachel said quietly yet strongly, "We need to get ready for Nationals,"

"Oh, and are you going to say you deserve this solo?" Santana asked in annoyance.

"No,"

"Yeah that's what I...wait what?"

Everyone looked at Rachel like she had grown a second head and perhaps she had, perhaps she had grown one that was too tired to try anymore, too tired to keep going, too tired to be around this place that she knew it was her time to just go. It was her time to just let everyone here go and move on.

"Are you kidding me?" Mercedes asked.

"No," Rachel replied again.

"Rachel, as glad as I am that you're saying no to this solo, this is going to be in New York, you have to do this, you SHOULD want to do this," Kurt started as Rachel just shrugged at him.

Mr Schuester was a bit at a loss over this one. He had never heard Rachel say, 'No' before to any solo and a small part of him wanted to ask what was wrong, but the other part of him was just glad that she quit being so dramatic all the time so he chose to say nothing about the matter.

"Uh, so, would you like to be in the duets?" he asked her instead.

Rachel just shook her head at that.

"Rachel, what's going on? It's not like you to not participate," Mr Schuester said to her more out of curiosity as opposed to genuine concern.

"It's like you said Mr Schue, I'm not a team player and it's not okay anymore, so I want to be a team player and see others have a chance to shine," Rachel shrugged as everyone chatted amongst themselves at this new development.

"But um, Mr Schuester," Rachel started, "May I sing one song please?"

Everyone didn't say anything about it this time. Something was different and it was rather unsettling.

Rachel gave her music sheets to Brad and the band club who were helping out that day before looking at everyone and saying, "This song is called Bones by Ginny Blackmore, I don't really know who I'm singing this for anymore,"

And as the music started and the lyrics began to flow. Quinn really started to pay attention and feel that something was really and truly wrong. (She wasn't the only one).

 _"_ _I wish that you could see  
_

 _Who I really am._

 _It sucks being a woman,_

 _In love with an unkind woman,_

 _Cause baby I would give you the world,_

 _In fact, I already do._

 _And how do you repay that?_

 _Talk to me like I'm just a regular tramp tryna screw you o_ _ver,_

 _do you even have a clue_

 _What I gave up just to be here,_

 _To serve your ass with steak and beer?_

 _Baby that's love_

 _Baby that's real_

 _And all I've ever wanted was for your damn arms_

 _To wrap themselves around me and say_

 _Hey, girl you're the prettiest thing my eyes have ever seen_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Hey girl you're the prettiest thing my heart has ever known_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _I'm not tryna play the victim_

 _Don't wanna go head to head_

 _But girl I shouldn't have to stand in the mirror_

 _Convincing myself I'm fair_

 _Baby that's your job to do_

 _Baby you should think I'm beautiful_

 _Why you wanna watch the set_

 _When I'm layin' right next to you in our own room_

 _I feel like you don't even know I'm there_

 _But I put a brush through my hair for you_

 _Run my fingertips over your back real smooth_

 _Cause girl I need love_

 _I don't get enough  
_ _And all I've ever wanted was for your damn arms_ _  
_

 _To put themselves around me and say_

 _Hey, girl you're the prettiest thing my eyes have ever seen_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Hey girl you're the prettiest thing my heart has ever known_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _I look you dead in the eye and say I love you_

 _In the eye and say I want you_

 _In the eye and say this is what I'm asking for_

 _How can you sit and stare at the wall_

 _Do you even like me at all?_

 _Start talking 'bout makin' it better_

 _It ain't that complicated_

 _I just wanna feel your arms around me, babe_

 _Please say..._

 _Girl you're the prettiest thing my eyes have ever seen_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Hey girl you're the prettiest thing my heart has ever known_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Come and lay your bones down with me_

 _Please, please baby_

 _It's a woman's dream,_

 _I just wanted you to say you love me."_

Everyone gave her a clap but were unsure of what to say. Quinn now felt her heart thumping hard against her chest as she felt a worry build there. Brittany just shot an angry glare at her, not that she noticed, before looking sadly at Rachel.

In the end Mercedes got the solo and Santana got the duet with Puck and when Glee was over everyone else filed out happily until it was just Rachel and Quinn left in the choir room.

"Rachel," Quinn started startling the brunette out of her stupor.

"Wha, yes, huh? Quinn?" Rachel said as she closed up her back pack and looked at the blonde.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing,"

"Rachel, it's not like you to give up solos or anything,"

Rachel shrugged a bit.

"See, even this, normally you'd be giving me a rant about why you decided to do what you did, but this, this isn't something that normally happens, what's going on Rachel?" Quinn asked/

"I," Rachel started but was unsure of how to finish her sentence.

"And that song, is that how you really feel Rachel?"

"I, I think we should break up," Rachel blurted out instead.

Quinn froze as she looked at her, "What? Rachel, you can't be serious,"

"I am,"

"What? Why?"

"I'm making it easy for you Quinn, now you can be with whoever it is you want to be with without having to hide it from me," Rachel said with a sad smile, "I will cherish what we had but I can see that you were never happy with me,"

"No Rachel, that's not true," Quinn started feeling slightly confused as to what Rachel was talking about.

"Quinn it's okay, for some people love is just something that doesn't exist, I've come to terms with that a very long time ago, you leaving me alone was an eventuality, it was inevitable, I had already anticipated it when you decided to start pulling away and avoiding me, at least now I know who you were with,"

"Rachel, what are you talking about?"

"You kept blowing me off and ignoring me, at least now I know it was with Santana, seems that she always manages to grab people I love, doesn't surprise me though, she's pretty, smart, strong, and she gives people what they want on the whole, not like me,"

"Rachel..."

"Quinn, don't, I know you were with her today alone in the classroom at lunchtime, I was walking towards my locker today and I heard you two,"

"Rachel it's not..."

"It's okay Quinn, really, everyone always leaves me in the end anyway, my fathers have, my mother has, did you know before High School I actually had a couple of friends? But even now they're gone too, they left me behind for popularity, my extended family want nothing to do with me, Finn left me, Noah left me, I'm not surprised that you eventually pulled away too,"

"Where's all this coming from? Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I tried but you didn't listen to me and you brushed me off, it's not like I'm not use to it, loneliness is my only friend really,"

"Rachel I didn't, I just, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that this was how you felt, I should've listened,"

Rachel just shrugged at her, "No one really knows the real me Quinn and I think sometimes you don't know the real me either, but I'll be honest I'm really too tired to keep trying in hopes that someone would be able to stand me long enough to remember me and that I have feelings too,"

"Rachel, I,"

But Rachel held up her hand before saying, "I'm not blaming you Quinn, we both know that you deserve so much more than I can give you, I am too tired to keep trying Quinn, I am tired of being left behind and alone when I am supposed to be with someone I love, even when they don't ever tell me that they truly love me back,"

"I have said that I love you Rachel,"

Rachel smiled, "Loved Quinn, we know it's loved, you haven't told me that you actually love me in a very long time,"

Quinn was silent as Rachel said that. She didn't know Rachel felt that way. Was she really that terrible of a girlfriend that she didn't know how Rachel was really feeling? Was she really starting to pull away so much that the brunette before her was feeling disconnected and sad? By going with what Rachel was saying to her, she obviously was. And now the song was starting to make more sense in her mind as she pieced things together.

"Goodbye Quinn, I love you," Rachel said as she kissed Quinn's forehead and started to walk away.

"Rachel, wait!" Quinn called out as she was finally brought out of her stunned silence and started to walk after the brunette. But this time Rachel was faster than her and she disappeared, no one who lived in Lima ever saw her again.

Last that Quinn had ever heard of Rachel Barbra Berry was that the brunette had skipped town, but in what direction she went no one knew.

* * *

 **AN:** Yep. So there we go Angsty. The next part will feature Rachel's point of view and where she went as she grows. And the final chapter you'll see what Quinn was up to with Santana.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Righto, this is from Rachel's Point of View. It will show the snippets of her life since she left Lima.  
Also please note that while I like cars I don't actually know a whole lot about the engines and inner workings.

* * *

 **Rachel's POV**

Rachel wasn't sure what she was thinking all she could tell you at this particular moment was that she was getting out of Lima and she had to do it quickly before anyone caught up with her.

She had rushed out of McKinley before Quinn could recover from the bombshell she dropped and she was glad that this time luck favoured her as she ran out and headed home to pack what she could.

When there she left her bag on the floor by the front door as she raced to her room to change as fast as possible into clothing no one would ever expect her to wear; (jeans, hiking boots, flannel shirt, t-shirt, and a baseball cap); before she grabbed her pre-packed rucksack; (that she had prepared for when this moment would eventually arrive - even if a part of her wished it wouldn't); before she dove under her bed and grabbed her hidden cloth case that the various thousands of dollars that she had withdrawn over the last few months were wrapped in so she wouldn't use her bank card in any way; that said, she figured she'd still stop by a at least one more atm machines on the way to her next destination so that she could get cash out and that could be put into her wallet for direct use as she tried to find somewhere in the country to stay.  
She also had planned out in her head where she was going to head to.  
New York City was too obvious, everyone knew she had wanted to go there, at least that's what they thought - but Rachel had other places she wanted to go to too and she figured she'd head south; since of course the next obvious place that people would look for her would be in L.A.  
She also grabbed her passport as she figured perhaps if she travelled out of the country it would be great too and South America was a continent she intended on visiting and seeing one day.

Once she was done, Rachel walked to the front door of her house, looked back in, took out her phone and placed it on the stand with a small note that said, 'Goodbye' - shut the door and left.

The first stop was an ATM where she withdrew a sizeable amount and wrapped half of the amount inside one of her shirt's to hide it in her rucksack before putting the rest into her wallet, shouldering her bag and walked to the bus station.

"Where are you going Sweetie?" the clerk behind the counter asked.

"I'd like to make my way to Roswell, New Mexico," Rachel said.

"Sure, that'll be two hundred and twenty dollars, plus you'll have three transfers to go through,"

Rachel just handed the woman the money before sitting down on the seat. She let out a breath as she thought about how glad she was that no one had managed to somehow catch her, which was a miracle in itself.

"First Road Trip?" a man asked as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah, something like that," Rachel said feeling a bit uncomfortable at a stranger talking to her.

"I'm away for business, heading off to Chicago, you?"

"Um, south,"

"Fair enough,"

Rachel took his short statement as a sign that he wasn't going to continue talking to her as she sighed for a moment in gladness that her own ambiguous short answers showed that she didn't want to talk to him.

"You're not a runaway are you?" he asked her breaking the very short silence.

"Even if I was I wouldn't be telling you," Rachel answered, "But if you must know I'm visiting family down South,"

The man raised his hands in a surrender position as he ceased talking.

-page break-

The trip itself was a bit boring but Rachel decided that she'd enjoy it while she could as she would gaze out the window at the passing scenery and then would fall asleep at other times.

Eventually, after the plus seventy-two hour boring bus trip plus the three transfers, Rachel found herself standing at the bus stop in Roswell, New Mexico. She took in a deep breath and sighed as she walked to the closes motel she could find before checking in.

"How long you staying?" the receptionist asked in a very uninterested tone.

"Don't know," Rachel answered, "However long I take,"

"Whatever, that'll be a payment of forty-five a night,"

"Fine,"

"Pay me for the first two nights at least, that way I know you're staying,"

Rachel just dug into her wallet and pulled out the money and gave it to the woman who grunted at her, gave her the room key and pointed her in the direction that the room was in.

"Thanks," Rachel said as she left the office and walked to her new room.

It wasn't much she noticed but it was what she needed. Rachel sighed yet again as she put her things away and locked the door behind her as she decided to explore the city.

She wasn't sure exactly what it was that she was looking for but she figured something would eventually catch her attention and as she walked around she did find something. A camera.

'Might as well make my own travel scrapbooks,' she thought to herself as she bought a camera before taking pictures of the city.

Eventually the path she decided that she would take for the day lead her to a small mechanic shop, but it wasn't the cars that necessarily caught her attention, it was the punching bags and the small looking boxing gym.

It was a bit different than what she'd seen back in Lima and she thought it so neat that she decided to take a photo.

"Hey kid, you can't just take photos," an older man said to her in a gruff voice.

"I'm sorry, your gym just looked cool and different from where I'm from that I wanted to get a picture,"

The man just looked at her and in that moment Rachel decided that she wanted to try something new, "I was also wondering, um, can I join your gym? I was hoping to learn about the art of boxing,"

The man looked her over before saying, "Look, this place here is just for the kids I tutor in car mechanics and care and I train them in MMA to keep them busy and off the streets, we're not a professional gym,"

"I see, either way I still liked to join, I can pay you,"

"Look kid..."

"Please,"

The man sighed before saying, "My name's Miguel, wear something comfortable, and you may join on one condition,"

"Yes?" Rachel said as she looked at him.

"You wanna join me and the crew here, you have to learn about cars too and help out like the rest of them, you got a problem with that you can go somewhere else,"

"Deal," she said as she gave him a small smile, "So uh, how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing, if I ain't charging the others I'm not gonna charge you,"

"A donation then,"

Miguel squinted at her before saying, "The kids need new training gear,"

"Will this cover it?" Rachel asked as she just handed him an amount.

"Holy shit kid, I can't take that much,"

"Just take it, it's a donation to cover equipment and stuff, plus you're teaching me too so you know,"

"Thanks kid" Miguel said as he smiled on the inside, not that Rachel knew that, "You got a name?"

"It's whatever you want it to be, I don't really care,"

"A runaway huh?"

"Uh,"

"I know the look, but I'm not going to pry, you tell me when you're good and ready and if this lasts beyond a week,"

Rachel let out a small laugh, "You knew that I was a runaway but you take the money anyway," she joked.

"Well, you offered kid, see you tomorrow at three p.m.,"

Rachel waved goodbye as she decided to walk back to the motel.

* * *

That intended week stay in Roswell turned to be just under two years. Rachel was actually having the time of her new found simple life; she loved learning about cars, she loved learning about the Mixed Martial Arts, she loved working part time at the diner in the city, and she eventually came to learn that not everyone she cared about would leave her in the end; that there were some people who did care for her genuinely.

Of course in the beginning it wasn't easy going. Rachel was mostly on her own as she learned the Martial Arts and when it came to learning cars and repair. The kids; who turned out to be all boys about her age with one very young member; weren't overly trusting of her and it wasn't because she was a girl, it was because she was an outsider. She was someone they weren't sure they could trust just yet.  
She couldn't fault them for that logic and to be honest at the start she wasn't sure if she wanted to get to know them. They'd probably just leave her anyway. But over time the team got to know her as one of their own.  
She had sparked a good friendship with most of them and since they never really learned her real name they gave her one. Robin. Why? Because one day Rachel was walking to the gym and was singing without realising that she was.

 _"Wow, you have a good voice, why aren't you a singer?" Nicky, the youngest member there, asked._

 _Rachel had paused as she looked at him, "Uh, I, well, I just, I'll get back to you on that one,"_

 _"But you're so good at it, Imma call you Robin 'cause you like the bird,"_

 _"Thanks Nicky,"_

 _"Imma tell the guys that that's your name now,"_

 _"Sure thing," Rachel laughed as she watched the eight year old run off to tell the others._

And since then that's what they called her.

Rachel also became friends with a couple of the women who worked with her at the diner, there they also called her Robin thanks to Nicky who one day came in to see her work.  
One of them, named Lorraine, had taken quite an interest in the brunette and tried to pursue her only to realise that she noticed that look in Rachel's eyes every time she was approached in any courting manner.  
One day she decided to call Rachel on it.

"So, who's the person that has your heart Mi Bonita?" Lorraine asked Rachel as the two were on a small coffee break.

"No one, why?" Rachel asked.

"Listen I notice things okay, and I noticed that a few people here have been trying to get you to go out with them but you brush them off, me included, and I know that look, someone still has you,"

"No she doesn't,"

"If you say so," Lorraine smirked a bit as she put out her cigarette, "But I tell you what, you have to think whether you really love this chica or not because from what I notice you ran from her and I doubt you've told her that you're here,"

Rachel just gave her a look as Lorraine put her hands in a surrender position to show that she wouldn't query any more on the matter. And life would just carry on.

Eventually Rachel felt that it was time for her to continue on, she loved living in Roswell but she wanted to start travelling. She had saved a good bundle of money and felt that she had more than enough on to of what she had originally started with that travel wasn't out of the option; and so it was with a lot of sadness when Rachel decided that it was time for her move again, the first person she told was Miguel.

"So, where you running to now kiddo?" Miguel asked her.

"I don't know, I was thinking of slowly making my way to Lake Tahoe, I may go to Las Vegas first though," Rachel answered.

"And how are you planning on getting there?"

"Bus probably,"

"So, you wouldn't happen to want that car you've been working on for the past year and a half now would you?"

Rachel paused for a moment and blinked at him, "Say wha?" she stuttered.

Miguel gave her a small laugh, "I knew you would eventually go, so I figured I'd give you a farewell gift, something that you would know how to work on if something were to happen to it, plus I have the paperwork to say that it's officially yours and yes I'm aware that even though you weren't that great at first, you still have your license now, so you're good and safe...enough,"

"You're, you're giving me the car? But I, I, um,"

"You worked hard on that car, you helped rebuild it after it was left to rust and cared for it, besides, now you can be like those boys from that show you love so much,"

"Minus the demon hunting,"

"Well, yes, but you can travel through America, you even have hidden compartments in the trunk to hide certain currencies, I still think you should open a new bank account, obviously whoever it is that you're afraid is going to find you hasn't found you yet and you've been here all this time, you have gotten your license using your real name and still nothing, you're safe for now kiddo,"

"I, thank you Miguel for the car, but as for the bank account, I don't know,"

"Look, I know you well enough now to know you've got a lot of money with you, it's not safe to travel with that much kid, you've been lucky you haven't been robbed yet, trust me, open a bank account you'll be safer having a bank account and not carrying a tonne of cash with you,"

"I guess, but the paperwork,"

"You've trusted me so far Rachel, trust me when I say this now that you'll be safer putting a lot of that money into a bank, carry some cash if you wish, but put most of it away, I can help you with the paperwork,"

"I," Rachel started but then nodded her head, she trusted Miguel and he had never stirred her wrong before.

"Good, now, you look after that car, okay, and look after yourself, was a pleasure to train you kid,"

"It was a pleasure to learn, thank you,"

And soon, after Rachel had followed Miguel's advice and opened a bank account and surprised herself with how much she really did have, she was off driving her restored black Impala car with a smile on her face as she waved goodbye to her friends and left them behind.

* * *

The drive to Vegas was quite enjoyable for her, though she did make a small detour and stopped by the Grand Canyon where she checked herself in for five days in a hotel. As she put her stuff safely away she drove to the Canyon itself where she decided to book herself a two night mule trip as part of her adventure.  
And sure her butt hurt insanely after the ride but she had a great time, met great people, and took a lot of photos of her trip down the canyon.

Eventually, she found herself in Las Vegas where she checked into a motel, deciding that if she could find a decent job here she would stay for quite a while; (she ended up being there for three years, travelling now and then to the surrounding states as well as travelling back to Roswell to visit Miguel and the Crew). Finding a job, surprisingly, wasn't hard for her and Rachel felt lucky on that front. She had been driving pass a garage and just felt drawn to the place, and though the owner was a bit sceptical of her abilities to work around cars, she proved him wrong and he offered her a part time job working for him. Though she did tease him one day about it and said that he only wanted her to work at the place because she had the Impala. He never did deny that.  
On top of working in Las Vegas, Rachel decided that she'd rent an apartment so that she'd have a place to call her own before she went out to try and find a gym she could join to continue training in MMA. Yes, life was going well, but a part of Rachel started to feel that loneliness again. More than once Rachel had found herself crying for no obvious reason and was glad that she was at home when that happened.

"I shouldn't be sad, I have a good life now, I'm travelling, I get to see Miguel and the crew every now and then," Rachel said, "It's been two years now since I moved here to Las Vegas, life is good, I should be happy,"

 _"But a part of you still misses home, you miss her,"_ the voice said to her.

"No, I don't, I don't miss Quinn, I, I don't miss anyone but Miguel and the crew, but I see them when I can,"

 _"You can lie to yourself all you want, but I am you, you miss her,"_

"I can't miss someone who I don't know anymore,"

 _"If you say so,"_

"I don't miss her, I'm not, I'm not lonely,"

 _"Loneliness has been your friend for a long time and until you get closure with her you will forever feel alone,"_

"I don't need her,"

 _"But you still want her,"_

Rachel could not reply to that.

* * *

As Rachel approached the end of her third year in Las Vegas she felt the pull to travel again and go to a new place. Resigning from her job was one of the hardest things to do as she had come to love it but she just felt that she needed to be on the move again.

At her farewell party she was asked to give a speech.

"C'mon now Robin, give us a speech," Paul said as he and the others raised their beer at her.

"Okay, okay, speech," Rachel said as she stood up, "I uh, I had to write it down,"

Everyone gave her a small hearty laugh at that.

"I just, I want to thank all of you for the last three amazing years, it's just been so wonderful to work here and to have a family that I once thought I could never have, I learnt a lot and I just, I want to say thank you to everyone so much from the guys at the garage, even though I know Paul only hired me because of my Impala,"

Again people smirked and laughed at that.

"To the crew I worked with, Zane, Dylan, Zack, and Mary, to my awesome crew at the MMA gym whom I trained with and watched a couple of you enter the competitions and are now on your own personal road to the UFC, I wish you guys luck and I hope you will get the chance to enter and get recognise in that franchise, I just, thank you all of you,"

"Where are you heading off to now Robin?" Zack asked, "You gonna go find some girls for yourself? Maybe get a bit of a party going there?"

Rachel laughed as she shook her head, "I'm planning on going to Lake Tahoe next,"

"Lake Tahoe huh? It's not going to be as awesome and as full of lights as Vegas baby," Zane joked with her as she smiled, "You enjoyed yourself at that strip club we snuck you into,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I only went because you wanted me to come with you for your Stag Party, don't deny it," Rachel smirked as Zane laughed at her as he turned a bit red and his wife teasingly pinched his side making him yelp.

"You sure you don't want to stay here another year? You could celebrate turning twenty-one here if you stayed another year and we'd get you a nice girl for the night," Zack teased her.

"Not my thing," Rachel said as she took a sip of her own drink.

And soon Rachel was off again, driving that long drive to Lake Tahoe.

* * *

Arriving at Lake Tahoe made Rachel gaped at the beauty of the place as she stopped to enjoy the view. As she took in a deep breath she could smell the fresher air and feel the sun on her skin.  
She resolved that she would get settled here and find a job, she had finally reached her desired destination.

Finding a job was harder for her this time, she was turned away from a few places and she was bit disheartened as she was driving back to her motel room. She had been there for almost a month now and still no luck. Although she did take a chance to explore more of the area and go on small treks when she wasn't job hunting.

One day, by pure chance, Rachel had stopped on the side of the road to help a man whose car had broken down as he was on the side of the road.

"You need a ride back to town?" Rachel had asked him.

"Wow, nice car kid," he said to her.

"It's awesome, I worked on this car and helped rebuild it,"

"Rebuild it huh?"

"Yeah,"

The man looked at her before saying, "You're that young kid who came by my garage looking for work as a mechanic the other day aren't you?"

"Yes, that was me,"

The man just kept looking at her as Rachel was feeling a bit uncomfortable, "So, uh, do you need a ride to town?" she asked again, "Or I could tow you,"

"If you could tow me that'd be great, it would save me time waiting,"

Rachel nodded her head as she got out the required rope to help tow the car back to the mechanic shop. As she popped open the hood she had a look inside to see what was wrong out of pure habit.

"Wow, you have a hole in your radiator, and it looks like one of the spark plugs is damaged, and holy hell, you have a hole in the pipe here, holy free holies, who did this all happen?"

"Kid, I'm a mechanic, I know, and trust me this bucket of bolts wasn't supposed to be in this condition, but I took a chance in driving it to the garage myself, I thought I could make it, obviously I couldn't but sometimes even us experienced mechanics make mistakes,"

"Sorry, habit," Rachel said as she finished tying the car so that it was tow ready.

Once they arrived at the garage the man got out of the car and said to her, "Listen, help me fix my car and if I think you've done a good job, I'll give you a full time job here, I need a new mechanic and the last few I trialled didn't do great jobs at all,"

"Really?" Rachel asked hopefully as he nodded his head at her.

So Rachel did what she did best and helped him fixed the car and while he told her that her skills didn't fully blow him out of the park, he was still impressed that she learnt this without going to a school of some nature, so he gave her the job and said that he was willing to teach her more than what she already knew.  
Rachel resolved to be the best mechanic he ever had.

* * *

And so a year had gone by now as Rachel lived in the nice quaint town. Sure the life she had now wasn't exactly what she'd think it'd be when she was a lot younger and she started missing being able to travel to see Miguel and the boys in Roswell, she also missed seeing Paul and his crew in Las Vegas, but she still loved it here.  
A part of her however still felt the usual loneliness and while she found ways to battle that like going to barbecues at her new friends places, or going on treks, or deciding that she wanted to rebuild a car from scratch;(which surprised her co-workers but she wanted something to keep her occupied); or even once travelling out of Lake Tahoe for a couple of weeks so that she could travel back to Las Vegas to celebrate her twenty-first with Paul and the Crew, before going to Roswell to visit Miguel and his crew; the loneliness was starting to creep back in again and Rachel did what she did best and tried to push it deep within her so she wouldn't have to talk about it let alone think of it.

Eventually another year was almost passing and the still lonely soon to be twenty-two year old was happily working away on the car that she was allowed to restore on her own when she heard voices coming in her direction.

"Well, I have a good mechanic here who will get your car running quickly, she's now one of the best I have," Rachel heard Matthew, the owner, say.

Rachel felt her heart swell at that praise but didn't want it to go to her heard so she reminded herself that without the rest of the team she wouldn't have learnt what she did over the last almost two years. She kept working on the engine as she heard footsteps walk her way.

"Hey kiddo, I have a car that needs to be fixed and I figured you'd be able to do it quickly, the others have gone for lunch," Matthew said as Rachel stood up and looked at him.

"Okay," Rachel said as she slowly turned to look at the group of women who were waiting for her.

Rachel's eyes widened when she heard a voice that she hadn't heard in almost seven years call her by her name.

"Rachel?" the voice said softly as the hazel eyes looked at her with such sadness and yet relief at the same time.

Rachel turned to face the woman the voice belonged to fully and let out a breath, "Quinn, hi," she said quietly back.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there you have it. Next chapter is the last one and you'll see the story from Quinn's point of view. Until next time team.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Alrighty, FINAL part of this story.  
Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and followed this story.  
Also thank you to those who just decided to read it.  
It was awesome to see that there were people who were interested enough in this story.  
Thank you everyone for taking the time on me and this tale and I hope you'll enjoy the ending; (unless I decide to write one more chapter and then there'll be an Epilogue - but for now let's go with this is the ending); I truly appreciated it.  
Have an adventure team.

Kind Regards, Dante Andy Anderson

* * *

 **Quinn's POV**

Quinn was celebrating a Hen's Night, that's what she was doing at Lake Tahoe at this current moment. The Hen's Night had turned into a Hen's Week where all four girls involved decided that they wanted to do a road trip and be spontaneous. Quinn had said that she always wanted to go to Lake Tahoe and just be amongst the quiet whereas the others just wanted to go to Vegas. And after much pouting they all decided that perhaps it'd be nice to go somewhere quiet to be somewhat rowdy after going somewhere where they were all rowdy. Quinn didn't mention though that one of the reasons she wanted to go to Lake Tahoe was because Rachel and her had once talked about going there together. She had wondered if the brunette would even remember her or that conversation and over the years she figured that she was probably forgotten by said brunette; and as sad as it was Quinn decided to continue on with her life. The trip itself was a lot of fun, unfortunately for the girls their car encountered problems eventually since it was, as Quinn called it, 'An Old Bucket of Bolts'.

When the girls were being lead to meet the mechanic who would in turn fix their car, Quinn felt her heart race as it did all those years ago as a person she had thought she'd never see again turned to face her.

"Rachel," she said softly as she watched the brunette's face twist into shock.

"Quinn, hi," Rachel had said unsure of what to do next.

"I'm sure you got it from here kiddo," the head mechanic; (Quinn didn't catch his name); had to said to Rachel who nodded at him as he walked off.

"So, uh, let me check out your car," Rachel said as Quinn lead her to the car.

Rachel popped open the hood as a bit of smoke came out causing her to step back before taking her work torch to have a good look around.

"This is going to take me a bit," she said truthfully.

"How long is a bit? Because we're here for a Hen's Night and we kinda wanna go do stuff," Amber the Maid of Honour had said.

"And you came to Lake Tahoe?" Rachel queried, "I suppose you can try one of the nightclubs but most people come here to enjoy the nature, at least that's what I noticed,"

"It was all Quinn's idea to come here,"

"I see, well, I can have your car ready by tomorrow after lunch, if you like you can have a loaner car,"

"You sure you can't get it done sooner? Like in a few hours or tomorrow morning?"

"I do need to eat and sleep at some point, also, I wanna make sure that what I think is going on is actually what's going on and I want to make sure it's fixed right, so, yeah, the fastest and best I can do is tomorrow after lunch,"

"I suppose that'll be fine, let's go girls,"

"I'll uh, I, I wanna stay here with the car," Quinn started.

"It won't be much of a Hen's night without you Quinn," Amber said to her.

"I know, but I, I know Rachel and I wanted to catch up with her, sorry girls, I just, I may not get to see her again after this,"

"Rachel huh?" Ashley said as she stepped forward causing the other two girls to look from her to Quinn, "She's that Rachel?"

"Yeah, that Rachel," Quinn said as she looked away.

"Oh Sweetie, it's just one night, the girls and I will go out for some fun at the clubs and we'll continue the Hen's Night tomorrow night, okay,"

"Thanks Ash,"

"What was that about?" Amber asked as the other girls.

"Nothing, let's go," Ashley said as she grabbed her things out of the car and followed Rachel to the loaner.

When the other three had left Rachel walked back to the car and saw Quinn still stood there and looking around.

"So, uh, hi," Rachel said as she started to work on the car.

"Rachel I, hi," Quinn started but was unsure of what to say.

"So, Hen's Night?"

"Yeah, I'm celebrating a Hen's Night, well, Hen's Week slash Road Trip, we all wanted to take a break from College and work so we thought why not make this a thing,"

"I see, well, you should've gone with them Quinn you'll just get bored here, plus you shouldn't miss your Hen's Night," Rachel started as she went to walk away to grab her tools.

"Rachel, it's not what you think..."

"It's fine Quinn,"

"No, don't you dare walk away and not let me speak, not this time Rachel, please," Quinn said in frustration as she grabbed onto the brunettes wrist.

"Quinn, let go," Rachel said softly.

"No, I'm not letting you, not again,"

"You're getting married Quinn,"

"I'm not getting married, I said I'm celebrating a Hen's Night I didn't say it was mine,"

"Very true, but uh, could you please let me go, I need to get the tools to fix your car,"

"Oh," Quinn said slightly embarrassed as she let go of Rachel's arm and waited for her to return.

"So, um, well, how are we going to go about this? I never thought I'd ever see you again," Rachel said as she started working on the car.

"I don't know, I've dreamt of seeing you after all this time for so long that I don't know what to say, I, a part of me is mad at you but the other part is so relieved that you're alive and well,"

"Same here, well, maybe not the mad part because I'm not mad at you,"

"Rachel why'd you leave? You should have let me explain, you should have waited,"

"I could have, but you have to understand where I was coming from Quinn, I was tired of being left alone and at the time I felt that you no longer valued me or wanted me around, plus I heard you with Santana and my first thought was, 'Oh, so she has someone else now,'"

"But you didn't even let me explain to you what was going on, you didn't talk to me about how you felt before,"

"Quinn I tried, and if I recall the first thing you did the first time I tried you rolled your eyes at me, the second time you took out your phone and started texting someone and ignored me, I couldn't be bothered with a third time hence the song and the OW!"

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Yeah, ow, cut my hand, one moment," Rachel started as she grumbled at herself in annoyance that she got distracted - a rookie mistake in her own opinion.

"Where's the first aid kit?" Quinn asked as Rachel pointed in one direction as she went to the other to wash her hand, "Here, let me,"

Quinn took Rachel's hand and dried it as she started to bandage it up for her.

"What have you been doing with your life Rachel?" Quinn asked.

"I became a mechanic," Rachel said.

"I see that, but, what about Broadway? Singing? Acting?"

"The past, I like working with cars,"

"It just seems like something you'd never really do,"

"I know, it's why I didn't run to New York or L.A., I knew people would look there first, well, that's if I had people who were interested in looking for me,"

"There were," Quinn said softly as she finished wrapping Rachel's hand and held it, "I tried, my Mom tried, your fathers tried, Puck did, hell, even Shelby tried, but we couldn't find you,"

"I'm surprised no one did, I mean all I did was take the bus to New Mexico,"

"You went to New Mexico?"

"Yeah, I started working in a diner there as I trained as a Mechanic and did some MMA training,"

"You did boxing?"

"MMA, it's different, anyway, I was there for two years and then I left for Vegas, lived there for three, and then moved here almost two years ago,"

"I should've tried harder, I should've, we all thought that you were going to New York so we followed the bus line to New York, when that didn't work we went for L.A., but you disappeared, not even your cards appeared, after a year your fathers gave up as did everyone else, I wanted to keep trying but I, I couldn't, I didn't have the money,"

"It's okay Quinn, I've had an adventure and I'm happy with it, so, tell me about your life, what have you been doing?"

"Well," Quinn started as she began to tell the story from the moment Rachel had left.

* * *

Flashback:

"Goodbye Quinn, I love you," Rachel had said to her as she felt the brunette's lips kiss her forehead.

Quinn couldn't think or breathe, she couldn't seem to do anything as her breaths became shallow, "Rachel, WAIT!" she called after Rachel as she tried to run after her, she raced around the school first, hoping that the brunette was just around there somewhere, starting with the auditorium; instead she eventually crashed into Brittany.

"Oh god, Brittany, I'm so sorry, I have to go after Rachel," Quinn said as she helped Brittany off the floor and was about to leave when the taller blonde stopped her.

"Quinn, did she talk to you?" Brittany asked.

"Yes, and I, she thinks I'm leaving her for someone else,"

"And are you?"

"No, I, she seems to think I'm with Santana and I, I,"

"You've been leaving her alone for a long time Quinn, ignoring her, it's why she was slushied today,"

"She was slushied? By who? I want names,"

"And what difference does it make now Quinn?"

"Because I have to make sure people know they can't do this to her, she's my girlfriend,"

"Is she really?'

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Quinn, you've been bailing on her for months and pulling yourself away, it's like she doesn't matter to you any more,"

"I,"

"What did you think she was going to say to you after all that?"

"I didn't know, okay, I thought that, I just, I,"

"You were with Santana, why Santana Q?"

"Because she was helping me pick a ring, okay,"

"What?"

"I, for the pass couple of weeks I was thinking of my future and what I wanted to do, Santana was bitching and moaning that I wasn't hanging out with her as much anymore so I figured two birds with one stone, she helps me figure out what to do with my future and where to go and what to do AND she helps me figure out a ring for Rachel, that way she hangs out with me and she helps me out,"

"Marriage? Quinn, that's still quite young,"

"I wasn't going to get married straight away, I was hoping that we'd just get engaged and then we'll talk about the actual marriage part when we were both ready, I,"

"Then why did you pull away Quinn?"

"I didn't realise I was, I just thought she was being paranoid so I didn't, oh god,"

"Quinn, I don't understand you, you wanted to talk about your future, why with Santana? Why not with Rachel? Wouldn't it have been better to do that with Rachel? You know, the girl you're supposed to love and have claimed you wanted to get married to?"

"I, I don't know," Quinn said as she suddenly wailed.

Brittany just looked at Quinn, unsure of what to say.

"I have to find her, I have to talk to her," Quinn sniffed as she wiped her tears away, "Did you see which way she went?"

"Home I'd assume," Brittany said as Quinn nodded her head at her and started to race out the doors of the school.

Quinn never realised that she had actually just missed Rachel by a moment. Had she not tried to find Rachel in the school first, had Brittany not stopped her, had she not continued talking to the other blonde, then Quinn would've actually been on time to stop Rachel from leaving. But of course if that had happened then the story would've taken a completely different turn.

When Quinn got to the Berry's household Rachel was no where to be seen and no matter how many times the blonde tried to call her girlfriend there was no answer. Quinn ended up in tears as she called Santana to come and pick her up because she knew she was in no state to drive home.

A week after Rachel's disappearance, her fathers finally had returned home to an empty house, their daughter no longer there.

To say that they were shocked was an understatement and yet Quinn could see some form of relieve in their worry; she couldn't understand that, she thought they loved their daughter, but still, it was decided that they would start the search for their daughter in hopes that she would appear somewhere, starting with New York City before going to the rest of New York State. After six months they turned their sights to L.A. to see if she had perhaps had gone there instead.

A year had passed now and the Berry men decided that they would cease searching for their missing daughter, there were no leads, no ideas, and everything they tried had gone cold.

"She's probably dead," Hiram had said as he ran his fingers through his hair before resting them on his mouth unsure of what to say and do.

"You can't think that," Quinn said in frustration, "She's alive, she has to be,"

"Then where would she go? Hmmm? We tried New York, we looked for six months and she's not there, we tried L.A. for six months and she's also not there," LeRoy added.

"Then we keep trying, New York State is a huge place as is L.A. and California, she may have gone to the state areas instead, we have to keep trying,"

"Quinnie, you have to accept that even if she were alive, maybe Rachel doesn't want to be found, she's been doing well keeping off the grid, she hasn't used any of her social media, she hasn't kept her phone, the last time she used her atm card was over a year ago and she withdrew a lot of money, heck, the last time anyone saw her she was jumping on the bus," Judy said softly to her daughter.

"But to where? How can we not know where? Someone has to know," Quinn asked through gritted teeth.

"We asked the clerk but she doesn't remember, we do get a lot of thoroughfare here in Lima and she can't remember everybody,"

"Then what about the obvious? What about the man who was sitting next to her?"

"No one knows who he is, he's probably just someone travelling through,"

"And what if he got her?"

"Videos show they got on different buses," Hiram said as he looked at Quinn, "Look Quinn, I know this is hard for you, hell this is hard for all of us, but Rachel is gone,"

Quinn deflated at that as she looked to her mother only to see her looking away from her. It was final, everyone was giving up on her Rachel and she was the only one who wanted to keep trying.

Quinn ran from the house and into the yard and screamed in frustration as tears poured down her face. She wanted Rachel back and now she knew that without any funds of her own, she'd never be able to find her again, and as she cried Quinn realised that no one was there to comfort her this time and the one person she knew she wanted was no longer there for her anymore.

* * *

College year soon rolled over and Quinn left Lima for Yale. Brittany was kept a year behind, sadly, and Santana went to Kentucky.

College was interesting, in her first year Quinn was torn between being a party girl and a study girl but in the end she managed to balance both. She was also torn between pledging herself to a Sorority and going to a normal dorm. She decided a normal dorm was more to her liking when she made the decision and she was glad she did because that was where she met her new good friend Ashley. The two had met because they were sharing the same room and eventually found out that they both were studying more or less the same courses bar one. Quinn had shocked everyone when she had said she was actually going to Yale to study Physics and Geology with an interest in English Literature that she was going to make her Minor; Ashely thought it was neat but was sticking to Physics and Astrophysics.

Yes, the two did hit off very well. Quinn gained a friend who wasn't that interested in partying and was more of a stay at home, blob, and watch movies online kind of person with a big bowl of popcorn.

The two would share stories together and Ashley heard Quinn's story about Rachel and how much the blonde missed her.

Ashley would just be there for her friend.

As the years rolled by and Quinn was now finishing off her degree and was planning on starting a Postgraduate in Physics, Ashley told her that she was planning on getting married to her boyfriend of three years, Tim, and asked Quinn to be one of the bridesmaids along with her other best friends Amber and Tammy.  
Quinn was ecstatic and after much planning they all decided that a trip Las Vegas was the place to fly to; (all thanks to Ashley who decided to splurge on her friends, yep, she was a rich kid and Quinn was surprised at that);

 _"I don't like advertising that I'm from money, so to speak," Ashley had said to Quinn one day, "I don't like the idea that people think they can either grovel at my feet, or to try and take advantage of me, plus people always see you and treat you differently if they realise you're from money,"_

 _Quinn had nodded her head at that_ ;

and after much convincing, Quinn finally coerced them to hire a car so that they could all go to Lake Tahoe and make a trip of this celebration.

The trip was fun and enjoyable in the end, in Las Vegas they partied and laughed as they dragged Ashley to a strip club and got her a strip tease from one of the dancers, they laughed as they drank away.

And they marvelled at the view, or at least Quinn was, as they drove to Lake Tahoe.

Annoyingly though the car they had hired broke down and they had to be towed away to the garage.

"It's okay Quinn, it's all good," Ashley said as she patted her friend's back, "Who knew that the guy who rented this to us was a schmuck, I'll call the company after we go to the motel and give them one four about it and we'll hopefully get some of our money back or something,"

"I still feel bad, this is your Hen Week Ash,"

"These things happen, besides, what better place to get stuck in than Lake Tahoe, this place is gorgeous, you ever been here before?"

"No, but it was on my 'Place to go to' list, so I figured why not make a suggestion of it,"

Ashley just smiled at her as they pulled into the Garage.

Flashback end.

* * *

"And that's pretty much it," Quinn said to Rachel as she looked at the brunette.

"You didn't tell me too much about what you did in between Quinn," Rachel said as she got up and started working on the car again.

"There's not much to tell, I studied hard, I worked in a Cafe part time, I met some cool people, went to a poetry slam, but I was living the life of a college kid, not much changed from that,"

"So, no under age drinking huh?"

"Hell no,"

Rachel gave her a small laugh before asking, "If you remembered my wish to come to Lake Tahoe, why didn't you come here first?"

"I don't know, I guess a part of me figured you wouldn't come here because we talked about it, but then again I guess a part of me never really thought about it, I think it's more of the latter,"

Rachel nodded her head at that.

"So, where to from here Rachel?" Quinn asked.

"Quinn..." Rachel started.

"No, Rachel, I still love you, I want to be with you and I, what do we do from here?"

Rachel paused as she took a moment before saying, "I love you still Quinn, but I loved you from years ago, we're different people now,"

"Rachel,"

"I'm not the same person I was,"

"I know, but,"

"Quinn, what we can do from here is carry on living, we go where this road will take us, in the morning you will go back to your life and with your friends and you will go to the wedding as a bridesmaid and after that you will carry on with your studies, I will continue travelling the road and working as a mechanic and training at the gym in MMA and that's all there is to it,"

"Rachel, please,"

"This won't work out Quinn, and you know that,"

"But you don't know that, please, don't give up on us yet, please, we can get to know each other again, I just..."

Rachel gave Quinn a sad smile before saying, "I feel the difference Quinn, I know you do too, if we try a relationship over distance it's not going to go well, distance relationships are difficult and trying to rebuild a relationship like ours will be even more so over distance, so go home to your friends and leave me with mine,"

Quinn's heart broke a little more at that as she said, "Can I have a kiss goodbye then?"

Rachel looked at her before she leaned in and kissed the blonde's lips softly as Quinn drew her into her arms and held her tight and returned the kiss before hugging her and cried as she felt the brunette's comforting hands embrace and caress her back.

* * *

And so Quinn soon began her journey back from Lake Tahoe but before she left she went to say goodbye to Rachel.  
Ashley was incredibly annoyed at that, she had hoped that Rachel and Quinn would get back together but she supposed that this is what life was and it was never what we always hoped it would be.  
She felt bad for Quinn, she really did, the blonde looked heartbroken and distraught. Ashley let Amber drive them back towards Las Vegas as she sat in the back-seat of the car and held her friend, comforting her and telling her that everything was eventually going to be okay.

Almost a year had gone by now and Quinn was finding the start of her Postgraduate difficult, though that didn't deter her as she kept studying. She was now living in a Flat with Amber and Tammy and she was enjoying her life again though a part of her yearned to go back to Lake Tahoe to see Rachel and try to start some form of relationship with the brunette, she wasn't going to give up. She knew where Rachel was and she was going to find her again; and she cursed herself for being so silly as to not get the brunette's number, though she doubted that Rachel would have given it to her.

"So, Q, anything fun to do around here?" Santana, who was up visiting for a holiday, asked.

"Yeah, tonnes," Quinn said.

"But you're still thinking about Yentl, aren't you?"

"S, that's not nice, we're not in High School anymore," Brittany chastised.

"It's a term of endearment," Santana defended, "Look Q, I know you still love her and all, but she told you to move on, maybe you should move on,"

"I can't, I found her after all this time and while she may have gotten her closure I haven't and I won't let this close, I need her," Quinn said as she looked up from her coffee.

"Q, what if she doesn't need you anymore,"

Quinn paused at that.

"She is a very different person now from what I hear, a part of me wants to go to Lake Tahoe to kick her ass for hurting you but after the life she's lived, from what you told us, and how she felt in High School it wouldn't be right," Santana said, "You need to move on,"

Quinn just started at the coffee in the mug.

"I think you should move on," Tammy said as she walked into the house and hearing the tale end of the conversation, "I didn't really meet this Rachel girl while we were there but it seems like she's made her decision,"

Quinn looked at her for a moment.

"And hey, if you like mechanics I know that there's a new one working at the garage my brother is at, you'd like her, sounds like your type, brunette, sings as she works sometimes, oily," Tammy started.

"Oily?" Quinn smirked.

"Well, you know how dirty mechanics can get with all that grease, plus I think you'd love getting dirtier with one, c'mon, I'll go introduce you to her she's apparently super nice, according to Joe,"

"I don't..., look, I have Santana and Brittany here and I promised to hang out with them before they have to return to L.A. to work again,"

"What exactly do you work as?" Tammy asked the other two.

"Oh, I'm mainly a Voice Actor," Santana said, "B dances in theatre and does classes,"

"Cool,"

"It is, they decided that they like her so much that they want to cast her in some TV Show about a Glee Club or something like that, what exactly are you playing B?"

"A Cheerleader, I think, but I'm a minor role," Brittany answered, "Ditzy and quirky is what I'm supposed to be apparently, I suppose that'll be okay since I'm essentially just going to be myself,"

Everyone laughed at that before taking a small pause, "Well, why don't we swing by and meet this new girl?" Santana said, "Who knows Q, she may be to your liking and she may help you move on, and if she's super straight or not to your liking because she's weird or something then we can just go shopping, at least we tried right?"

"You're not going to let this go are you?" Quinn stated more than asked.

"I'll drag you kicking and screaming if I have to, it's not healthy Q, you need to move on from Yentl,"

"S, you're happy with Brittany now, you two are going to get married in a few months, you have your High School Sweetheart, you can't just tell me to let go of someone I have loved since High School, she may have changed a bit but she is still the same Rachel,"

Santana sighed at that, "But maybe this new girl can help you, let's just go, worse thing that'll happen is that you won't like her and Tammy will just make up some bullshit reason as to why we're there and then we'll all go do something fun,"

"It's true, I will make up something if it doesn't work out," Tammy said.

"Fine," Quinn sighed as Brittany smiled and clapped her hands at her and the other two smiled at that.

-page break-

At the garage Tammy introduced Joe to the girls before telling her brother about Quinn and asking him to introduce the new Mechanic to them under the pretence that he was introducing the woman to Tammy mainly since she was family.

"Sure thing," Joe said as he turned away and went to look for the new girl, "Oi, Robin, where are you?"

"Robin, interesting name," Santana said.

"Apparently she's one of the best though, Joe said he's never seen anyone work as well and as fast as she does, nor has he seen anyone who could spot the problem that quickly," Tammy said, "He said that if she were his type he'd go for her because she's hard working, kind, and caring,"

"Thought she had only been here for a short bit?" Santana said.

"Yeah, about two weeks now, and that's the kind of praise he's giving her, it amazes me and it must mean that she's really good,"

"Good with her hands too, huh Quinn, you'll like that," Santana teased as Quinn turned red.

"Hey all, this is Robin," Joe said as he brought the woman over to her, "Robin, this is my sister Tammy, and these are her friends whom I don't know,"

"I'm Tammy," Tammy said as she shook the woman's hand, "His sister and wow are you cute,"

"Thank you," the woman said with a smile as she turned to look at the Unholy Trinity who were staring at her, mouths open in shock.

"Hi Quinn," Rachel said as she gave the blonde a small smile and wave, "I thought about what you said, and i was wondering if you could tell me where to from here?"

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there we go team. Thank you very much for following this tale. I figured I'd give you this ending and you can make up your own minds as to what Quinn will say and do.

Or I suppose if it is requested I could write an Epilogue, I'm not too sure yet. For now though, thank you for following this tale, I hope you have enjoyed it.


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